Next month, the company’s new headquarters and production shop on the West End is expected to start manufacturing the Spartan Guardian, a portable security box for handguns that unlocks using radio frequency identification technology. It allows users to quickly access their weapon with the swipe of an RFID card, ring, wristband or keychain when needed, while otherwise keeping it secure.
There are 16 mounting options for it to be placed in vehicles, homes and other locations.
Oakshott, the product’s lead engineer, said the company plans to hire 10 to 15 employees to start working in the 7,200 square-foot building just off of Danford Road right away. He expects to add jobs as Ultimate Defense rolls out new products that it is currently developing, including a trunk safe, a larger lock box for firearms with longer barrels and security doors and windows.
“Ultimate Defense has created some really innovative products and I’m excited to see it grow,” Gianforte said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new shop on Wednesday.
In addition to the company’s plans to create up to 90 jobs during the next few years, including employment opportunities for too-often overlooked workers, such as veterans and those with disabilities, the governor said, it will stimulate the economy in other ways, too.
Ultimate Defense uses local suppliers for parts and manufacturing materials whenever possible, Oakshott said. Although there are a few products the company has to buy from China, he said, most come from the U.S. and many are purchased locally.
New gun accessory producer shares company’s plans in Montana
The Spartan Guardian will be stamped with a made in Montana seal, said Lorrie Smith, a sales representative for Ultimate Defense who’s among eight employees at the company now.
“We all just believe in this,” she said. “We know it’s going to have a snowball effect.”
Oakshott, who grew up in England, said he started thinking about how to make guns safer after his former neighbor in Scottsdale, Arizona shot herself in the foot while going through her late husband’s belongings after he died.
“She’d never held a gun before in her life at 85,” he said. “And unfortunately, not long before that, I lost a friend in Wisconsin to suicide by gun.”
Wanting to help make firearms safer and prevent them from being misused, Oakshott, who was trained as an engineer while serving in the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, started researching.
Through his work, he was introduced to Johnson, who served in the U.S Army and later started SparrowOne Financial Service, a firm that specializes in payment security for merchants. Soon after meeting in Arizona, the two went into business together.
They gathered insight from the FBI and several other American and British law enforcement agencies, analyzed information from nonprofits that track data about firearms and sought expertise from behavioral scientists at universities.
Billings manufacturer shares research that led to new gun technology
They found cities across the nation are reporting alarming increases in the number of firearms being stolen from vehicles. Additionally, they learned about challenges people often face in life-threatening situations, such as impaired motor skills and reduced cognitive function, which can be exacerbated by traditional gun safes.
Oakshott said their research also showed a lack of storage options on the market that allow users to keep a handgun locked up but also access it quickly and easily enough to be helpful if needed for protection. So, they came up with a prototype for a product aimed at solving that problem.
“This is the latest and greatest in technology for securing firearms,” Billings Mayor Bill Cole said.
In the last year alone, he said, more than 220 guns were stolen from vehicles across the city. Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said those firearms were used in at least 70% of homicides his officers investigated.
Ultimate Defense plans to start taking online orders for the first 1,000 Spartan Guardians in the next week.
The handgun security box costs $489 and is equipped with a drill-proof override lock. It comes with a manual key, a mounting kit and two RFID cards and one keychain. RFID wristbands and rings can be purchased separately for $9.95 to $97.95.